The Chicago Board of Education on Dec. 29 approved an amendment to its fiscal year 2026 property tax levy, voting 15 in favor and 5 opposed. Board members said the change is needed to offset cash-flow shortfalls tied to delayed county tax disbursements and the interest cost of short-term borrowing.

Acting Chief Financial Officer and district treasurer Wally Stock said the county’s modernization and timing delays left the district short of expected property-tax receipts, forcing CPS to borrow on short-term notes and producing roughly $33,000,000 in interest expense. “It’s $220,000 a day,” Stock said when describing the daily cost of the delays. He said the board’s amendment requests roughly $40,000,000 more than the levy the board approved in August and described the revised levy as a 4.78% increase over the prior year’s final levy.

Stock outlined how the levy is split among components: an $11,000,000 increase to the teacher pension levy (changing the nominated figure from $612,000,000 to $623,000,000 in the presentation), no change to the capital improvement levy, and an increase to operating levy components (an education/operating adjustment presented as roughly $29,000,000). He said the board’s presentation estimated the impact on a $250,000 home in Chicago at about $8 annually.

Members who opposed the amendment objected on equity and affordability grounds. Member Gutierrez read a statement announcing a vote of no: “I’m voting no on any further Chicago Public School property tax increases,” she said, citing sharp recent tax increases in Southwest Side neighborhoods and urging internal cost reforms. Member Roosevelt said the measure would not solve structural budget problems and urged that promised efficiencies be delivered first: “By voting yes, we are simply chasing a rabbit down a hole that we will never ever catch.”

Board members who supported the amendment framed it as necessary to protect classrooms and programs amid uncertain state and federal funding. Member Pope said the board was “rightsizing” the August levy given updated county numbers and called the levy “a very minimal amount.” Member De Berry said taking action now would prevent leaving students “in limbo.”

Votes at a glance
RS3 — Resolution levying property taxes and authorizing filing of a controller’s certificate for FY2026 (board report read as “25 0 8 2 8, RS3”) — Outcome: Approved, 15 ayes, 5 nays. Members recorded voting No: Member Smith, Member Boyle, Member Rosenfeld, Member Rivas, Member Gutierrez.

What happens next
With the board’s approval, staff will proceed with the filing steps described in the resolution to finalize the levy before the state deadline. The board adjourned following the vote.

Reporting notes: Quotes and vote tallies are taken from the board’s Dec. 29, 2025 special meeting transcript; all attributions in this story are to speakers identified on the public record during that meeting.